Exception
by nomnomfood
Summary: When the owner of a djinn dies, what happens? It's only been fourteen years since Sinbad conquered the first one. As it turns out, there's three options for a djinn whose master dies. Be passed on to the next of kin, go back to the void until yet another magi calls them, or under extraneous circumstances, become free.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Edited version

* * *

Living in the deep, dark hellhole that was the void was where Vega had spent the majority of her very long life. All of your sense were taken away, and it was hell. Still, unlike many of the others in the old world, she survived.

Honestly, Vega didn't mind the void that much. Others would have complained, pouted, been frustrated, but Vega was right at home. The nothingness she felt was _nice_. After years of being in places too dark, or being in places where the light people gave off blinded her, she liked not being able to do anything but think.

And unlike those other places, the void was quiet.

There were no voices screaming in her head, telling her to get out, to save herself, to become free, to live. There were no people around her to tell her to be better, and there wasn't anyone telling her that she should be happy.

Alone with her thoughts, Vega got the opportunity to listen to herself, and only herself, though the void had an odd effect on her; she was always in a state of half consciousness or unconsciousness. She got to remember things from her past life, and what she wanted to change once she was finally called upon by a magi.

When she finally did, and got her dungeon raised, she became someone different. Throughout her centuries in the void, she had gradually become less and less aware of her body, and her memory of what she looked like and what being human was like faded from her mind.

Yunan was the one who called her dungeon to the surface, and only her old name seemed befitting of that of a djinn. Orias. The first thought when she had come into existence again was blue. Her skin was blue. Now, it was a pale white, but then, it was blue.

The rare times she looked in the bronze metals in her dungeon, it revealed that her hair was a dark blue, and her eyes an even darker shade of that same color.

But her dungeon was black. It was as dark as the night sky she held power over. In the old world, she hated the dark, associated it with her past, never with her future. It was unfortunate though, when she finally realized that her magic was of the realm she had hated so much. Eventually, when she got older, Arba had explained that she had been captured because of her powers, and she hated them all the more.

Maybe now she would finally be able to change that. In Alma Torran, they had bequeathed upon her a new name, to shed her past and look into the future. Maybe she would finally be able to fit that name, and not be always stuck, wandering, and lost between the two identities that were her.

She had no way of telling how much time had passed before someone claimed her dungeon. All she knew was that she had enough time to create and place whatever she wished within what soon became her home, was able to practice her magic, something oddly hard to adapt to in her new body, and develop more magic spells that would aid her in her journey to help Solomon.

Vega also had enough time to listen to the stars. At nights, when her powers were strongest, she deserted the treasury room she stayed in and went to the top layer of her dungeon. Cool nights and colder breezes relaxed her body as she lay as close to the stars as she could get without removing herself from her home.

For a long time, she was content, watching as the shooting stars that fell from the sky burst into a million sparks. She thought of why Solomon had named her that, why he would name her after something that would burn itself out in the end, something that would die. She thought of Arba and Sheba and Solomon, Ithnan and Ugo.

One day, the stars started whispering to her.

They told her of the fate this world would face, the horrors and monstrosities that the greatest people would overcome, and the things that they would fail in. They hinted at something bigger that would happen, something that would effect everyone, everything, every world. Images flooded her head; those bloody, gorey pictures of the past, present and future.

But whenever they came across a topic that seemed important to Vega, they moved onto another one. When she asked them, they would never answer. Their lights were constant, bright, knowing.

She began to love the night and everything associated with it. The dark became her new best friend; the stars became her parents. The cool breeze that swept through the desert on winter nights became both her lover and her enemy, caressing her with a gentle push, or battering her with fierce, inhuman winds.

The sun became her enemy.

Many, many moons had rose in the sky and descended before it came back the nest day. Hundreds of cycles of the Lunar phases passed, and still she looked the same. Nobody came to her dungeon, but she relished being alone. Some days she hoped that no one would ever capture her dungeon, and she could stay just as she was.

But the stars whispered again, of a boy called Aladdin. He would be coming soon, to capture her dungeon. He would be the one to start moving her in the direction she was supposed to go in.

Vega resigned herself to her fate and waited.

Aladdin wasn't the most trustworthy man. He was a thief and had a pet monkey. He had a crush on the princess, and wanted to marry her. First and foremost though, he became her friend.

For the year she had known him, he had visited many brothels, trying to get his mind off of her, but she still remained there, at the forefront of his mind. Jasmine. The princess. The first few times were awkward, but she realized that when she first appeared, she was more scantily clad than the women who gave him lapdances. Any embarrassment she had soon faded.

He became Prince Ali, one of the many suitors vying to get Princess Jasmine's hand in marriage, to become the next sultan. By using her powers and djinn equipping, he eventually did. Ali grew older, and so did Jasmine and his monkey. They grew old, had kids, but neither of them ever told any of their children about her. She was a secret, a friend, She would not be abused.

Ali died. He was a good king, a great king, the best friend she ever had. His reign had been unquestioned, and only died from old age. When he did, he let her free.

"I will not let you go back there," he said as firmly as he could while lying on his deathbed.

Vega, who had been saving up her magoi to bring herself out of her metal vessel shook her head. "All djinn are meant to go back there once their king's candidate becomes- well-"

Jasmine put her hand over Ali's and smiled at Vega. "We want you to be happy. You were a great friend to us, and we can't let you disappear for another century or two. You deserve to see this world."

Ali nodded. "So how do we? How do we release you from your metal vessel?"

"I don't know," she whispered, uncomfortable in the room, rather small considering her size. Vega had lied, again. She had done time and time again back at Alma Torran, but she thought she had finally broken the habit.

Ali's eyes held a knowing look. "I know that you do. Even if you don't, we'll figure out a way. It doesn't matter how long it takes."

Vega did know. Every time she had come out after her dungeon had been 'conquered' by Ali, the stars had been whispering to her, telling her what to do. Their voices never rose above a murmur, but lately, those few times Ali had managed enough magoi to call her out, the stars had been so insistent, all of the,m, that it made her head hurt.

Even now she was getting a headache, the open window doing nothing to prevent the noise from filtering in.

Solomon's words came back to her. _Protect my son. Protect this world._ She couldn't do that if she was back in the void, but she wasn't ready.

 _The story is being set into motion. His son needs your help. They need your help. Find the others. Save the world._ Came the voices of the stars, clamoring to be heard.

 _No,_ she told herself. Solomon had said that to everybody, and the stars didn't know how inexperienced and weak she was compared to the others. Dantalion would make a much better choice.

 _No,_ the stars told her again, _No, it must be you._

She gave in.

"If you do this is how…"

* * *

As Vega looked down at her forearms, they were no longer blue. Her hair was no longer blue, and her eyes were no longer blue either. Her hair was black like the night, her skin as pale as the moon in her beloved sky.

Her eyes were red around the edges, puffy from tears and rubbing, but the irises were the dark purple of the top of the sky during sunset.

Ali must have known that he was going to die. It must have been the reason why he had wanted her so badly to be free. He must have known that the last bit of magoi he had in his body would be just enough to free her before he passed on.

She appeared to be only a few years older than the age she was in Alma Torran; she had the body of an nineteen year old, three years older than what she was before.

Vega just didn't understand. When Ali had passed, Jasmine had not cried. All she did was run her hand through Vega's hair and murmur that it would all be alright. She, the one who had taken the last life from Ali, was the one being comforted. Jasmine sent her off with a small smile, and a kind heart.

Her hands were clenched at her side, wondering what Jasmine would have to face without her husband at her side in that large castle that would become lonely all too soon. Originally, she had wanted to stay there, but Jasmine had shook her head and replied with a definitive 'No.'

She and her late husband were both intuitive, and both of them had known that she had a bigger destiny than just staying there with them. She had been the selfish one, not wanting to let go of one of the only true friends she had, but now she saw the truth. Vega was destined for something much greater than their country, and she would do the world good in whatever she did. Other people needed her more.

But now, Vega was lost, and rather confused. One moment she was in Agrabah, the next she was in a totally different country. After she had waved her last goodbye, she had been swept up in some kind of magic and she had been unable to stop it.

Vega had departed from the castle with the clothes on her back and a few trinkets she was especially fond of. But now, more than a quarter of what she had in her dungeon appeared at her side.

Her body shivered and she felt bare. The anklets she had worn as a djinn had not sized down with her, and she felt empty and undefended. She would have to commission a set of those soon. After she paid someone handsomely to help her carry the items into town, she looked up at the stars again. They had fallen silent, not speaking a word after she had become free. She felt- lonely.

Though they had left her, she still knew her mission. She had to find the other djinns and warn them of the coming danger. She had to find Solomon's son and ensure he was safe. She had a world to save-

And her first lead was a place called Balbadd, a merchant country filled with turmoil.

* * *

Please note that this is an edit of the original prologue. Just let me know if you want me to keep the edited versions of the story different or just erase as I go along. I still have the original file in my google drive, so I can put it back up no problem.

I love all of the readers, but it gives me a little bit of light in my day when I see that somebody Favorited/followed/revied my story. Thanks~


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Edited

* * *

"Now now, there's no reason to be glaring like that at me, is there?"

Vega begged to differ. When she came back from going to the bathroom, all she saw was a nude man frightening her travel companions. When he turned his front to her, it wasn't much better- all he had on was a leaf. How he got it to stick there, she didn't know. And she didn't want to know.

It was a small wonder that she hadn't attacked him on sight with the sword that had formerly been her hairpiece as a djinn.

"Ah, it's all alright Vega. I don't think he's going to hurt us," Aladdin soothed her. "All he needs is some clothes."

Vega still held her sword out at the man, eyes never backing down. "I have no reason to trust this stranger," she spat the last word like a curse. There was something about him, something about that man that made her want to run away and hide. "How did he lose his clothes anyways?" she mumbled so quietly no one could hear her.

"My name is," he thought about it for a minuscule moment, "Sin. Now you can't say I'm a stranger."

Aladdin smiled at the purple-haired man. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Aladdin," pointing to Morgiana, he continued, "this is Morgiana," he pointed to Vega this time, "and this is-"

Vega had finally put her sword down in favor of clamping Aladdin's mouth shut. She loved the boy, but at times like this he was a little too naive.

"You may call me Orias if we ever do converse, which I hope we never do." Deciding that the naked man held no imminent threat except embarrassment as well as the possibility of him being a liar- she knew that he paused for a moment before he said his name- she sheathed her sword. Keeping an eye on 'Sin' at all times, she rummaged in her bag and pulled out a blanket.

She balled it up and threw it at his face as hard as she could, which wasn't very hard. She hadn't trained her body to be strong, ever, and a few days on the road had tired out whatever muscle strength she did have.

"Use that," her voice bit out. "Come on Aladdin, Morgiana. We're going."

Aladdin smiled at Sin again. "Bye Mister!" He hurried down the road where Vega and Morgiana were already waiting for him.

"Aladdin, we must hurry if you want to reach Balbadd before nightfall." Vega started to walk faster, anklet chains jingling with each step she took. "If we hurry, Morgiana might even be able to get on a boat back to her homeland."

Sin called out, "Balbadd?"

Aladdin was the only one to turn back, but he nodded in response.

"Wait!" Sin called out, "Wait, I can guide you."

Vega almost broke out in a full run, but settled for a jog. She didn't want the weird man, who according to Morgiana, had been robbed in his sleep to follow them. His name seemed familiar, but his aura screamed at her to get away. Though she was seeing less and less rukh each day, she knew that he was half fallen, a volatile thing for anyone to be, especially someone with an aura of power like him.

Aladdin tugged on her cropped shirt, halting her progress. "We are not going to wait for him Aladdin," she all but hissed. Morgiana tapped her shoulder, but she was ignored in favor for seething at Aladdin.

"But he's already in front of us," he replied.

Indeed, the six foot tall man stood right before them on the path they were hurrying down. "If you're going to Balbadd, I can guide you," he repeated with a smile on his face."I'm actually headed there myself."

If she moved to the front, he just moved faster, and after repeating this three times, she realized that it was childish and walked slower, lagging behind Morgiana. She had no choice but to let him guide them, though she already knew where they were going.

"Orias," Sin said while they were traveling, "Thank you for lending me your blanket. I'll be sure to get it back to you."

"No." Her tone was frosty, cold, and bitter. "No, I don't want you to return that blanket to me." Who knew where the man had been? He was probably all dirty. Vega didn't want his thanks, didn't want this man to even be near her.

She was soon making a constant effort to stay on the opposite side of the path; as far away from Sin as she could be. Unsuccessfully, she tried to herd Aladdin and Morgiana over to her but failed. Only Morgiana returned to her side while Aladdin seemed to enjoy Sin's company. Vega was forced to move closer to him in order to protect him. If the man was a pedophile, that would be terrible.

After Aladdin had finished talking with Sin, they fell into an uncomfortable silence, only broken by Sin's declaring of, "This is Balbadd."

From the top of the hill they stood on, Vega could see that Balbadd was falling into ruin. The buildings which were probably nice once, were breaking, crumbling, and defaced with graffiti.

Soon, the four of them were within the city, and she could see the citizen's gaunt faces, the squabbles over seemingly nothing. When she bought more food for her supplies, the cost was sky high, and the citizens around her looked at her hungrily.

Vega went back and bought out the vendor, giving what she could to those around her. They continued their march through their city, three of them unsure of where they were going. Sin drew closer to Vega, and she didn't move away. For now, he was more trustworthy than the ones around her. Half-fallen was much better than those who had already fallen into depravity, or the hundreds they passed that were teetering on the edge.

Sin walked right behind her, as if protecting her. As she continued to give out food, though she was doing it with caution all the while, neither of them could avoid the pointed stares at either the food she had, or their bodies.

The blanket Vega gave him did not cover his upper body, in fact, it barely reached his knees. Those more fortunate stared at his body with lust, wanting nothing more than to run their hands over his body.

Vega's long pants and cropped top did nothing to hide her slim figure and pretty features. For a brief moment, she wondered if she should have worn a cloak but brushed the thought away. It was warm in Balbadd, and for somebody used to the cold of the night, any significant kind of heat was sweltering to her body.

Morgiana mused that the two of them, standing side by side, looked almost like a couple. His tanned skin complemented Vega's lighter tone, and their eyes were like Yin and Yang- dark and light. Molten gold and the darkest purple.

Morgiana was oblivious to the lustful stares that she was attracting as well. Only Aladdin was spared from that.

"Ah!" Aladdin, walking in front of the rest of them, pointed to a wall with graffiti on it. "That must be why everyone looks so sad here." Overthrow the Monarchy! it declared. It was written in a reddish brown, the same tint blood took on after it dried.

For a while Vega stopped and just stared at the sign, Morgiana and Aladdin continuing onwards. She shivered violently, memories coming unbidden to the forefront of her mind.

We don't need a monarchy, they said.

We don't need a ruling family.

We don't need a king. We don't need a king.

We don't need you.

Her head felt dizzy, and she thought she was going to collapse. Sin steadied her by wrapping an arm around her waist and gently stroking her hair, like his mother did to him when he was upset. He liked the way she fit in his arms. She was thin and lean, a little less curvy than what he was used to, but the perfect holding size. He wanted to hug her, rest her head under his jaw and love her until she stopped being sad.

He didn't. They didn't know each other well enough, and if he actually wanted to be with her, he would take it slow. He would respect her, and right now, the way to do that was by just being there.

Aladdin and Morgiana looked back. Seeming to recollect herself, Vega shifted out of his arm and walked up to Aladdin and Morgiana. Sin let his arm stay in the shape of her body for a few moments longer, her scent of fire lingering barely after. They had barely spent any time together, but he already felt like he knew her so well and could love her forever.

He loved her personality, her kindness, her caution, her smell. The smile he saw on her face when she looked at Aladdin is the one he wanted to see directed towards himself. They came upon the hotel all too soon, and Sin decided he would absolve himself of any feelings for now. There was business he had to attend to, and even though Ja'far thought otherwise, not all of his thoughts were of women.

"Where are we going Sin?" Morgiana asked, wondering what they were doing at this expensive looking hotel.

"Oh, I'll pay for your stay as long as you want to." They entered the hotel and two men approached them, and told them the same thing Sin had told them; that they would pay for their lodging and that they were sorry for any inconvenience he caused them.

They called for a maid to lead them to a room before moving awy themselves, heading in the opposite direction they were headed in.

"I'll be right back. I'm sure I can find the room later." Vega hurried away, intent on doing one thing; finding out if this setup was a scam.

The three men had not gone that far and Vega was able to tail them to their room.

"Did you lose everything?" The one with white hair murmured, quiet tone belying the anger. From the back, he looked so delicate, white robes too large for his frame. But then, he had the same dead gaze of so many assassins that had traveled in and out of the palace of Agrabah. She recalled the banker, who tried to persuade Ali to sign the country's wealth over to Kou, and remembered that there were much worse things than simple assassins.

"Yes." The three entered the room.

The first voice got a little louder. "Everything? Even the metal vessels?"

"Yup." Sin replied.

He exploded. "When will you realize your duty as king, Sinbad? You're the ruler of the high Seven Seas, of Sindria!" Even through the closed door, Vega could feel white hot rage rolling off of the first man before rapidly calming down to disappointment.

Sinbad, Sinbad- Sinbad! The stars had whispered his name to her, told her that he was a key player in what was to come. They never specified what side he was on, but seeing how he was half-fallen, she assumed that he was her enemy. That's what logic told her, at least.

The irrational part of her told her that that reasoning was wrong. She too, was half-fallen. Most djinn were, and honestly it gave her an advantage. Being half-fallen meant that you could control two sides to all magic, not just the light, and not just the dark. As long as you didn't lose control, you could do almost anything.

Vega was allowed to control both the inky darkness that surrounds the stars in the sky, and the moon and stars brightness and power; their fire, their light, and to some extent what they controlled, like the tides.

But for Vega, there was a high price to pay. Her past, a gruesome, dark, and bloody thing could never be erased from her memories. And her future, because when the light of the stars seemed to catch up to her, she burned instead. Her future would go up in flames, and so many would die if she didn't.

The stars never told her that, but she would make those decisions on her own. When she was at that point, no one would be able to help her.

Vega shook her head. Sinbad was a metal vessel holder, and she had to find all of the djinn. In order to find whether or not someone is trustworthy, she shouldn't lower herself in order to figure it out. She padded silently down the halls, careful that they wouldn't hear her walking away.

Once she got out of the vicinity, she ran back to where she had last seen the maid and looked for the largest quantity of Rukh, where Aladdin would surely be.

* * *

"Sin," Ja'far murmured.

The purple-haired man looked his way.

You were aware of her presence after all, were you not?" He stood so still he was like a statue, and the only thing moving was his mouth. Ja'far lowered his eyelids so his eyes looked as though they were squinting, analyzing.

Sinbad's eyes gleamed honey gold. "If she stands by our side, there is no question that we'll win the coming war." He would not let Balbadd be taken, never. Not after Rashiid had done so much for him.

* * *

Eyo, also edited. I'm just going to keep rolling these edited chapters out until November ends, probably. On another note, happy(early) thanksgiving and all that jazz(if you live in America)


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"This is sea bream, Balbadd's specialty. Dig in!" Commented Sinbad.

Aladdin and Morgiana looked upon the piping hot fish with sparkling eyes, mouths open and drooling.

"Please, don't let us stop you from sitting down as well." Vega said to the two men standing behind Sinbad.

"It's fine," Ja'far smiled. "I've already eaten."

"I prefer to stand." Masrur declined with a shake of his head.

"Aa. I see. If you don't mind, could I also order a larger order of this?"

A waiter was called over, and a bigger dish of the sea bream was brought over.

"Excuse me, I'm quite hungry." Said Vega.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Within seconds, the entire plate was finished. Neither Morgiana or Aladdin had finished their plates, and they were not half as large. In addition, they had their plates for at least ten minutes longer. Food truly was the best way to get Vega to accept you.

"Their meals really are good here! I'm almost full!" She turned to Sinbad and co. "Thank you for the food. It's really kind of you to pay for us. However, for the next few dishes I order, I insist that I pay on my own." She then promptly waved the waiter over and ordered two meat dishes, a plate of fruit, and a loaf of bread.

Morgiana and Aladdin finished their plates of sea bream, and Vega finished both meat plates, the fruit plate and was in the midst of putting the loaf of bread in her bag.

"Let me introduce you to my subordinates. This is Ja'far," gesturing to the white haired man, "And this is Masrur. He is a fanalis, just like you Morgiana. You have the exact same eyes."

Vega sighed. They didn't have the same eyes in the slightest. They were different shades, and differently shaped. Sinbad definitely was prone to exaggeration. The only thing they had in common was probably their extraordinary vision.

Both children were entertained by Masrur, while Vega stood slightly to the side and watched with a smile. Eventually, Aladdin blew Ugo out of his flute.

Jafar spit his water out.

"Ooh! You're a magi too?" Sinbad cried, voicing almost everybody's thought in the vicinity.

Vega though, stood to the side, and instead touched Ugo's hand.

 _"Urarutūgo? Is that you?"_ Vega thought, communicating through the rukh that surrounded them.

 _"Yes Orias, it is me."_

She chuckled. _"We've known each other for so many years… yet you insist on calling me by my formal name."_

His skin started to redden.

 _"You know what's happening already, don't you?"_ Vega brought the mood back down.

If his head could come out of the flute, it would have nodded yes.

 _"I don't know what to do Ugo. My master let me go… and I shouldn't have been. What am I supposed to do? I'm the youngest of all of us. What I saw… I only saw a little. It's not enough to have concrete proof. Those who would want to rebutt me could easily do so."_

 _"Have more faith in yourself. You may be young, but you are wise. Your knowledge comes from the stars, and indeed, they are old. They know. They have watched. They are our sentinels. You are their guardian. Therefore, you are also ours."_

 _"Still, what am I supposed to do?"_

 _"Watch… and listen. Travel the world. Visit all of the djinn you can. Inform them. They will make their choice. They will know what to do. If it makes things any easier, the fact that your master let you go means you're an abnormality. It means that though you can use magic, you can also still capture strength of your master lives on within you. Don't let him down." As if an after thought, Ugo paused then continued. "Try not to get any more than five djinn though, if you do, you might end up upsetting the fragile balance of power this world has."_

"... Sinbad of the seven seas!" The perfect moment to come back to listening to their conversation: Sinbad was being completely and utterly narcissistic.

Aladdin and Morgiana stared blankly at him.

"That's great mister!"

"You don't get it? But you're a magi."

"Say, what is a magi?"

"Ordinary humans can only use the rukh that's inside them but a magi also has access to unlimited use of energy created by other beings. Man! Magi are seriously amazing! By the way, would you mind helping us capture the fog troupe?"

Shortly after Morgiana detailed why they should help them, and after Sin stopped being a chauvinistic idiot towards her, it was decided that Morgiana and Alibaba would help Sinbad and co to help guard the rich man's home. Everybody presumed Vega would just sit back at the hotel as she looked visibly disgusted and voiced that she would not help to guard such a disgusting man..

They discussed their various battle tactics and Vega nodded and smiled when they asked questions, but never gave any of them a definite answer. When they started to move out, Vega waved goodbye and walked up the stairs to their room.

But Vega never said that she wouldn't go with them.

* * *

So, added onto the growing list of Sinbad's faults was that he used Masrur as a shield from the cold. It was rather funny, as she saw a bit more of Masrur's personality come through, but also depressing: A sniveling idiot was the head of a country. What was this world coming to?

This was possibly one of the only times that she would get to see Sinbad without a mask. That was because nobody knew she was there. Vega was currently on top a roof three houses away that nobody sensed her, and could be a reason why Sinbad didn't put on a facade. So rest assured, she was seeing what was beneath what her initial experience with him was.

Vega also saw the incredibly fat man being a complete ass to them.

And she also saw the poor woman, entirely skin and bones, approach them. She watched as she made a jab for Sinbad.

At least his fighting skills didn't seem to be terrible: he dodged her blow.

He also was courteous to the woman, so add that to the very small list of his good traits.

She still didn't make a move, even when Ja'far was idiotic enough to jump down from his safe spot on the roof.

But she started to move when she saw Morgiana getting held down by the black fog. If even Morgiana could be held down… they were in trouble. She moved rapidly forward until she heard Aladdin call Alibaba's name out. She paused for a brief second. Waited for a second more. Then retreated into the night.

Alibaba had turned Aladdin down. This would be a phase of growth for Solomon's son. She shouldn't interfere.

No one need know that she was ever there today. They would just think she stayed in their room the entire time, doing Solomon knows what.

* * *

"Morgiana, I don't quite understand… But all the same, you should go after him."

* * *

Vega sat, silent, right outside Aladdin's door. No matter how much pain he was in…

This was his period of growth.

No matter what, she couldn't interfere. Still, even if she had only known him for a day or two, she was growing rapidly attached to everyone. But she couldn't do that.

After all, even if she was fallen, she was still a star… and that meant people could never get close.

Ever.

So when someone came crashing into the room, and she heard Morgiana's voice behind, she got up and started to wander the hallways.

* * *

A loud crash caused Vega to come running back to Aladdin's the other battle, she didn't interfere. Rather, she stood on the side and watched as the conflict continued on.

Watching and observing were all she could do for now. Her magic was faulty to say the least- she had experimented and could only do a few simple spells. For the life of her she couldn't understand how to use magic in a human body.

In addition, Aladdin's king's candidate interested her. Alibaba. Like the people Aladdin chose to surround himself with, he seemed to give off a kind vibe. But there was something else behind him that had to make Vega wonder.

While Alibaba didn't quite have the leadership skills she expected, there was no denying that both Sinbad and the man called Kassim had what Alibaba lacked. If she were to describe Alibaba, she could only say that he was like a flickering candlelight. Not strong enough, but provided light to those in need. But it wasn't a strong enough light to rally behind.

Kassim on the other hand, seemed to be a bonfire that was lit with a large flame and a small amount of gasoline. He burned bright, but if he continued this way, his bright light would burnout.

Sinbad… For now, his character was too complex to even determine. He was an idiot, yet he was persuasive. Nonetheless, no matter how wimpy he may seem, he had a leader's charisma.

Of course, one had to expect the unexpected. In a world like this, it just had to be done.

Kassim had captured Sinbad in his back fog. But Sinbad, though unadept at keeping precious items on him, wa adept at controlling his magoi. The mist was dispelled, an Alibaba's loyalty came into question.

"You're not like them. Even if you say you are Alibaba…"

His voice sounded exactly the same as the ones he had running around his head for days. It was his greatest fear. Among all of these people, he just wanted to be the same. He wanted to be accepted.

"That's because you are.. A prince…"

"Shut up!" A fiery rage grew in Alibaba's eyes. "Come forth, Amon!"

Swordfighting and flames were truly a good combination. One was cold, hard steel. The other, hot, and full of emotion. Only the latter represented Alibaba: he had not discovered the determination he would someday later. For now, he was still the candle, flame flickering albeit brighter than most other candles.

It was not enough.

With a single hand, Sinbad stopped him. One touch-able to stop the fiery storm that gave so much trouble to Balbadd's military.

"Alibaba, you really don't know how to control a djinn properly, do you." It was a statement, not a question.

Vega edged ever closer to Ja'far and Masrur, the two who seemed to be the least affected by this fight. She still tried to avoid Aladdin, and Morgiana seemed emotionally upset.

"There is still an option that remains open to you." The fog troupe that remained, those who were not scared by Sinbad's words, listened intently.

"Let me become your comrade, and join the fog troupe!"

"... Are you really joining the fog troupe?" Ja'far asked incredulously.

"Yup." Sinbad replied.

"This is too problematic. We were supposed to capture the fog troupe…" Ja'far shook his head, and Vega pitied him. Though she was still slightly wary of Sinbad- "-Control a djinn properly-" she found that Ja'far's sensibility, and Masrur's blunt personality were two that she enjoyed. Indeed, if she had to choose between the three of them, it would always be Ja'far or Masrur over Sinbad. Of course, it was an entirely new ball game if you added Morgiana and Aladdin in the mix, for she would go with them first.

"How could you be so heartless?" The only thing that she was really able to observe other than those rare moments of charisma, were Sinbad's over exaggerations.

"Starving children, a corrupt nobility, and even the women are armed!" Again, like Morgiana had thought not even a night previous, his chauvinistic ways shone through brightly.

"And if you want to me to cite another reason, it would be the abnormalities of the world."

"I won't be fooled,"muttered Kassim. "As a 'king' how can he just commit himself to become our comrade? You just want to live your own lives in luxury while us filthy inferior people die from starvation and rot in the slums!" His voice grew louder, and his eyes had a maniacal glint to them.

A triangle of carefully honed metal, attached to the end of a red string flew through the air, missing Kassim by mere millimeters.

"Shut have no idea what Sinbad has gone through. What he's had to sacrifice." He pulled Kassim closer. "You ignorant thief."

"Ja'far! Stop this." Sinbad reached out, to prevent the assassin from killing the man who sat on his knees.

"My apologies."Ja'far was surprised at himself, but only for a moment. This was, afteer all, how he'd been brought up. This was who he was.

Vega lay a hand on Ja'far's shoulders. Just like Sinbad and herself, this was one among many more who had fallen-only half way- to depravity. So many people put on a brave front, but they always had the thought lingering in the back of their heads that they were monsters.

And as much as she wanted to say that it wasn't true, she would be lying if she refuted it. All those who had fallen, even if only half way, had done terrible things. It wasn't just cursing your own fate that you had to do, other people's strings of fate had to be tied to yours, and at your own hands, they must have been hurt, killed even.

"I will take you, Alibaba Saluja, third prince of Balbadd to have an audience with the king tomorrow." Sinbad finished. "And let me join your fog troupe!"

"Mr. Sinbad is such an interesting person. He'll definitely become famous in the future!"

Vega smiled. "He's already pretty famous Aladdin." She looked out at the scene that was playing out in front of them, saw Kassim's distrust, the people's hope, and Ja'far's misery that he was turned into the bad guy. "I can't help but wonder…" Her voice lowered to a whisper. "If he had planned this all out from the beginning."

She escorted Aladdin and Morgiana back inside to their room and waited until the sun would rise the next day. But unlike Morgiana and Aladdin, she wouldn't go to the palace, and instead waited within their room.

Sinbad would be problematic. She wasn't even able to speak to his djinn. But, she reflected, even if he was halfway fallen into depravity, a person with that amount of charisma, a person that's able to turn assassins, commoners, and fanalis to his side- he couldn't be that bad. And maybe, he was just what they needed to save the world.

* * *

Negotiations had failed.

When they came back from the negotiations, Vega could feel the gloom hanging off of Alibaba. He was disappointed in himself to say the least. Though he was a metal vessel user, she wasn't particularly worried about him. After all, Amon was one of the djinn who already knew. She was certain that he had listened in to the conversation that she had with Ugo, and Alibaba himself was rather naive.

It was only when Sinbad started to rally the masses once more that Vega appeared. Sinbad was the one whom she still had under suspicion, even if it was lessening with eah hour she spent in his presence. He was the owner of seven djinn, and she didn't even know which ones he had.

"Hmn? Who's this guy?" Judal finally finished his rant to Sinbad. Vega stood silently next to Aladdin.

"Hey Sinbad. Who are these two exactly?" His red eyes looked at the rukh surrounding the two.

"He's a magi, just like you."

"This twerp is a magi? Magi are supposed to be amazing beings, the strongest magoi users in the creation of the world! How can you tell me that this little kid is like me?" He paused in his rant. "Then what about the girl?"

"Ah. Well, that's for me to know, and none of you to ever discover unless it's absolutely necessary." Vega smirked, then quickly retracted it and smiled. "Oh, mighty magi, if you did find my origins, I'm afraid you would be awed." She patted Aladdin's head, spun on her heel and walked towards Sinbad and Ja'far.

"Interesting…" Now that she wasn't right next to Aladdin, Judal could tell that she possessed an enormous quantity of magoi, not to mention that rukh was attracted to her, just like they were to magi. However, he could tell that she was a little different, and that intrigued him. He decide that he would decide what to do with her later, and turned his attention to Aladdin.

"Hey kid, nice to meet you!" He put his hand out and Aladdin reached out to take it.

Instead, Judal pulled his hand back and punched him square in the face.

"Why the hell are you teaming up with these losers anyways Sinbad?" Judal was interrupted by Aladdin gathering the rukh around him.

"Looks like you're ready to bust out and fight huh."

"Stop it both of you!"

"Shut it, Sinbad. This is a fight between two magis. Mere humans can't interfere. Besides, I know that you don't have any metal vessels on you at this time."

Masrur still attempted to destroy Judal's borg with a kick, unsuccessfully since he couldn't channel magic from a metal vessel.

Sinbad turned to Vega.

"I know you have a metal vessel- use it!"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. I don't have a djinn."

At this point, Judal and Aladdin finished their Magoi shoot out and were moving onto the magic portion.

"However, I can stop this fight."

Vega crouched down, then jumped into the sky. As soon as Judal formed the block of ice, she kicked it and it turned into particles of ice. Every time Judal collected more water from the surrounding area, Vega either kicked the ice down or made the water disappear with a flick of her hand. After the initial jump, she needed nothing to stay afloat. But faintly, Sinbad thought he saw something dark supporting her legs, black blobs that conformed to what she wanted.

"How the hell can you do this?" Judal snarled, frustrated.

She smiled.

"I'm an abnormality, isn't that right, Ugo?" She faced the headless body and grinned. "I've got your back. Just like in the old days."

She murmured to herself, "Though it seems like this body… doesn't respond to magic the same way. It takes more energy…"

It was this moment, right when Judal gathered some of the droplets in the air that Vega hadn't dispelled, that he aimed one icicle at Ugo's back.

There was no time to think.

Vega rushed down to Ugo's body and took the hit. There was no blood. The ice prevented any blood from coming out.

"Well would you look at that. This is just great. Ah well, not like I can't heal this." But just because she could heal it in a different world didn't mean she could heal it here. Magic did work slightly differently- and she was a djinn no longer, she was human instead.

"Looks like you are something special." Judal's eyes gleamed. "You're powerful as well. I think I want to play with you. But first, to get rid of these pesky flies..."

"Judal, have you already fallen to darkness? And I see… You've already found a home base to operate from. What happened to the magi in this world being impartial?" Vega murmured, green light emanating from her hands as she took the icicle out, trying to heal herself.

Judal did not stop his attacks. If anything, while Vega was down, he attacked more fiercely to make up for the time that she had not allowed him to attack. This time, when he aimed six icicles at Ugo's back, Vega was not able to stop it. Because she was lying on the ground, blood pooling at her abdomen, unable to heal her wound. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing slowed.

Without Vega to stand in its way, fate was running its normal course- something that she had been working so hard to prevent.

And Judal and Aladdin continued to face off, neither realizing the one girl who could change both their fates was slipping away.

Gone.

* * *

Authors note(OLD)

LOL guys

Sorry it took so long to publish last week has been hectic to say the east.

To list just a few of my problems:

Figured out that when I highs jumped two weeks ago, I fractured a bone & pulled two tendons on diff sides of my right foot. I was an idiot and continued to run the 300m hurdles & 400 m relays so yeah..

Then I got a super high fever of 103 that lasted for three days and when I came back I figured out that I missed like every single on of my tests. In addition I have a poop ball of an engineering teacher so I had to redo my entire project at home.

Of course, these things prob should have led to me writing more... but I was being lazy and slept for almost the entire three days I was sick. And, if I were being completely honest, I already have the chapters done up til chapter 7ish, I just have to insert some scenes and fix some stuff.

Can someone tell me how you can get betareaders?

* * *

(NEW)

Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I think that my updating schedule will be pretty sporadic, but I will tell you that unless I give you advance notice, you can probably expect a chapter at LEAST once every month. If I forget, review/ PM me and it'll remind me!

Also, I corrected the prologue and chapter 1. Just a few words here and there. The only major change was that I mistakenly typed Alma Torran in as the villain instead of Al Salmen. That has been changed. The spelling of these two groups will be varied throughout the story, sorry.

Special thanks to the guest reviewer who explained Reim etc.

I'll probably dedicate one of the scenes that I write *SPOILER*

in Reim to you. Because there is going to be a Reim arc. And it will be awesome. But not as awesome as the KOU ARC THAT IS HAPPENING NEXT CHAPTER OMG I AM SO EXCITED YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, I'VE ALREADY GOT THE CHAPTER PLANNED UT AN EVERYTHING I'M SO EXCITED. IF YOU DIDN'T LIKE THIS CHAPTER PLZ PLZ PLZ STAY ON UNTIL I REACH THE KOU PART BECAUSE KOUEN IS AMAZING AND SO IS THE REST OF KOU3!

ok caps rant over.

As always, fanfic writers love reviews, favorites & follows.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It's in a situation like this that Orias needs to be here…" Sinbad shook his head. "But Judal took her. And she's probably still out cold. Aladdin has used too much magoi, and Orias collapsed from physical exhaustion. She's probably the only one who can heal him."

"What do you mean?" Asked Morgiana.

"When she was fighting Judal, she took a huge blow that everyone saw. But then everybody got caught up in how Ugo was fighting back. But I saw. She started to heal herself- but I don't know if she ran out of magoi, or it was a combination of physical exhaustion and the amount of blood she lost after taking the ice out- she fainted."

* * *

Sinbad had Vega in his arms. "Everybody run!" Ugo had been powering an attack with his hands and attacked Judal, pummeling him to the ground.

Kougyoko then descended from the sky. Attacking with Vinea.

"She's a metal vessel user?"

Even then, Ugo attacked with his pick flames. Kougyoko easily dispatched him:With but one attack, she made a gaping hole in

Ugo's stomach. In an instant, his physical body disappeared from the Earth.

"What's your problem? All we were doing was protecting our comrades." Kougyoko commented when Aladdin took to the sky, enraged.

"No! All Ugo was doing was protecting us from him!" Aladdin declared, gesturing to Judal who was getting healed by Ka Koubun.

Kougyoko made the first move.

"Entai, Enshin, Engi. Get rid of them all."

Judal was roused by the fighting below, having been healed barely enough to watch what was going on. He saw Sinbad carrying his target. There was something odd about her… And if he used her he might be able to get better results than with anyone else.

The king of Sindria placed the still bleeding girl behind the protection of Morgiana, believing that she would be safe there. He paid his attention to Kougyoko instead, attempting to find a way to stop the situation without his metal vessels.

Morgiana faced off against the one of the three with extraordinary speed while Masrur faced the one that had the appearance of an elephant. Alibaba took one the master swordsman who had the body of a cheetah with Amon.

All three were losing.

Kougyoko finally started to djinn equip instead of just materializing the weapon Vinea had.

And Sinbad finally came upon an idea to stop Kougyoko.

He wasn't called lady killer of the seven seas, right?

* * *

"Ka Koubun. Do you see that girl? The one who Sinbad lay on the rocks. Get her and bring her back. I think… I want to play with her a bit." Judal found the strength to just barely raise himself from the flying carpet.

And Ka Koubun did so, albeit a bit grudgingly. Still, no matter the job he would do it quickly and efficiently.

* * *

"Let go of me you insolent man!" Cried Kougyoko.

"Aladdin, would you mind putting your staff away? It's not like you to become so infuriated." Sinbad continued, "Your highness. I hope to meet under better circumstances, under more official standards."

And with that, Kougyoko took back to the skies, red faced and with a newfound crush in mind.

Surprisingly or not, Ka Koubun was actually able to accomplish the task Judal set for him. No one realized that Vega was gone until it was too late.

Until it was much too late.

* * *

"And I doubt that we're going to get her back anytime soon. Now that the Kou empire has a grip on her… Things are really going to take a turn for the worse. If by any chance we can get her back… We need to." Sinbad sighed, a faraway look appearing in his eyes.

"She may not look strong," Morgiana began, "But I believe in Vega. I haven't known her for long, but the fact that she is a human and could stand on par to a magi- it really means she's something else."

Sinbad mumbled under her breath once Morgiana left his room. "It would almost be better if she took control of Balbadd. At least it seems as though she has some sense and some compassion. And she has enough power to back herself. I have no doubt that she's smart enough as well. But Balbadd needs someone who truly loves this country."

He poured himself another drink from his flask.

"It's been a long day." He slouched in his chair, something he rarely did. "I hope she doesn't die. I think… I think she could be a powerful ally… someone I could rely on. I think she could be… someone important."

* * *

"Damn." Vega held her head as she tried to get up from the plush bed that she lied on. "Heh. If it was just a few years ago, everybody would have jumped on me for cussing. I guess a lot of things can change in a few years, huh."

One could say that she was only going through her adolescent years now. She never had much of a childhood, more like she was deprived of one- so the few years she spent with Solomon had been her childhood, though her age was in her teens. Right now, she was stuck between immature brat, teen, and- well everything else and everything in between.

She tried to jump from the bed, only to find that she reopened her wound. "Ah. Guess I never finished healing this." Sitting upright, Vega summoned rukh around her and transformed them into magoi that she could use, something Ugo had advised her to do in the short time that they battled. He said something about her being an exception. Someone not tied to the normal rules of the world.

-Wait-

Ugo.

Where was she? Frantically, she turned her head left and right. The room was full of oriental designs and - was the rukh black?

She definitely wasn't in Balbadd anymore. Vega chuckled. "You're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy..." Despite the situation, she remembered a book that she had read from one of the other realms that Solomon had gotten novels from.

Though the rukh was black, she could still manipulate it. She managed to mix that with enough of her own magoi to make her wound heal.

Why had she been so stupid? If she had just used her powers, if she hadn't been so scared of Sinbad knowing, maybe she wouldn't be in this situation. Then again, why was she so wary of Sinbad?

It was his aura, she decided.

His aura- it was like-

.

.

.

He was David.

A man who she had so vehemently despised for so many reasons. But even if he was the reincarnation of him, he still seemed like a pretty good man, no doubt that he will become ruthless in his ambitions soon though, if there's no one to stop him.

She was too tired to deal with this. Too tired to even check if the water she drank from was poisoned, too tired to notice the red headed boy watching her from a crack in the door.

"Guess I'll find out where I am tomorrow." She murmured to herself. " the place upon now can't be that bad right? They bandaged my wounds, thigh clumsily, and if they really didn't want me, I'd be dead by now. So I guess," she yawned, " I'm safe for the time being."

And then she slept.

* * *

"Who the hell are you?" Vega growled. She remembered that when she last woke, it had been morning. Her body felt well rested, and the sun was up again, meaning she must have slept a full 24 hours.

A boy with pink hair, who honestly looked more like a girl, sat at the end of her bed, bouncing up and down.

"I'm Kouha! Judal sent you over and told me to watch over you until he gets back. So that's what I'm doing. He's going to give me some of his precious peaches once he gets back too!" He took on a slightly more sinister look. "And don't think about running away. If you do, there will be…." He equipped a large weapon. "Consequences."

Vega wanted to laugh. The kid thought that he could pull off a bad guy countenance, but with his slightly chubby cheeks, his pinkish braided hair, and his skinny frame, he was just not pulling it off. The hat he was wearing, and the fact that the weapon he held in his hand was so heavy that he struggled to hold it up was not helping his case either. Instead, she kept her facade up, the one she had when she first met Sinbad.

"Ah. I see." Her tone turned harsh and condescending. "Don't think that you can threaten me. I am older and stronger than I look. Your little sword won't and can't hurt me for quite a few reasons. First off, I would assume that Judal would not want his precious 'prize' to be harmed, nor do I believe that you have the will to harm another at this time. Another thing: I would never let myself be hurt by the likes of a small boy who does not know the true horrors of what is beyond these walls " She took a wild guess. "Just because you are royalty does not mean you are better than the rest of us. In fact, it means you have a disadvantage."

She stood, picked her bag up from the side of the bed, and walked towards the door.

"So don't be mistaken in your foolish illusions of what this world is."

The door shut behind her, and the boy simply sat there for a few moments, pondering her words.

"She would make a good match for Enn-nii." He decided. "Intellectually at least."

* * *

Vega wandered the halls, not sure where she was going. She tried to go where not all the rukh was blackened, but as she traveled, she could see that whatever empire this was- it was corrupted. Just because she was half-fallen did not mean that she particularly enjoyed the feel of this rukh. It wasn't the feeling of someone so anguished they fell, nor the rukh of someone who fell in along the way, no, this was the rukh of people who made choices specifically to become fallen.. The rukh that invaded the halls, they were the darkest kind of rukh, corrupted to the core, watching for it's next potential victim.

She was thankful that Judal did not take her bag, and hopeful that she would be able to get out of this place soon. Ugo and Aladdin would need her. With the hit that Ugo took, it was almost certain that he was sent back to the void.

While it wasn't really a void, it sure was like one. No one was ever around, and though you got your own space and got to mold it to your own desires, it got lonely in there after awhile. And it was only after someone conquered your dungeon that you were let out. Time didn't move forward in that place. You were stuck for an eternity in a place with only you and your thoughts.

It was a wonder that all djinn didn't go raving mad.

She could only guess how Aladdin might be feeling. Ugo was a good friend. Maybe not a best friend, but he still didn't deserve taking all those hits. When she was losing consciousness, she saw him get that hole blasted in him. Vinea… She might not have been very close to Ugo, but they were all working towards the same cause. For metal vessel users to turn on each other was a horrible thing. Nobody ever cared about how the djinn felt. They were just tools.

As for Aladdin, she could only presume that he didn't know that Ugo was still alive and well. But Sinbad was by his side. He should know that djinn don't get killed by a blow like that, right?

But then again, Sinbad himself was something to worry about. She hadn't known any of them for long, but-

She didn't know. She didn't know if she could trust them, Sinbad and co. in particular. Vega had been slightly impressed by his charisma in the last battle, the way he was able to handle fighting even without having a djinn. One battle though, is nothing to judge one's character on.

Vega could only comfort herself with the fact that if seven djinn chose him as their masters, he must be somewhat trustworthy.

Her wanderings led her to a corridor that was filled with rukh like Sinbad: half fallen, but corrupted with the intention to help.

Feet bare, she padded lightly over to the door that was only half closed. As it was nighttime, candle light was emanating from the crack. The rukh that surrounded her started to hum. There was another djinn near here.

A sword was pointed at the nape of her neck.

"Who are you?" A man's voice, deep and smooth; commanding.

How did he get behind her?

Vega turned and raised her hands.

"I am Orias." A weapon was pulled from her bag, platinum handle, black steel blade. She had transformed one of her hairpieces into a fully functioning weapon. "If you're looking forward to battling someone so much so that you point a blade at a guest's neck, I'm sure I wouldn't mind teaching you a few things."

As for right now, she was too tired to put of her usual harsh facade when she met untrustworthy strangers. So instead, she approached him with the lazy confidence only someone with a significant amount of power. Though she could be considered wise for the most part, in battle she was reckless, but still calculating.

"Enn-nii! Judal's girl! Stop!"

The two with swords did not stop glaring at each other.

Kouha ran into the room, panting. He mock glared at Vega. "You shouldn't run off like that. What would Judal had done to me if you had escaped?"

Vega resisted the urge to face plant. She was so stupid! She had her bag, she could have looked for the way out. She blamed it on whatever painkillers the boy must have given her to make the pain for her wounds go away.

Neither of the two put down their swords. Kouha had done nothing to break the tension between the two.

Kouha came ever closer. When he was just a few meters away, he tripped on one of the piles of books.

The red haired man sheathed his sword and went to help Kouha up.

This was the perfect opportunity, if only she could attack now-

The redhaired man glared back at her. Vega sighed. She really should have escaped when she had the then again, Kouha had a djinn. And this other man had a djinn too. She could at least see what their owners were like, right?

"So, Enn-nii," Vega mocked, "Why would you point a sword at Judal's precious prisoner?"

Kouha's nose crinkled. "I wouldn't say prisoner really, Maybe more like, umm…" he pushed his two index finger together for a couple of seconds, then pointed one finger straight into the air, "An interesting guest whose abilities he want to find out and won't stop until he does!"

The other occupants in the room stared at him incredulously.

"Well, getting back to the point," Vega shook her head. "I'm sure that you're real name is not Enn-nii, or at least if it is, I would pity you." She sat on the floor.

Kouen remained standing. "Kouen. Kouen Ren." He wondered why she would put herself in a position that would be easier for him to strike her.

Vega flopped on her back, childish side taking over. Her hands reached out for a book sitting next to her. "Torran,eh?" Her gaze turned sly. "Looks like someone was having a little bit of a hard time translating this passage." While the precious pages were not marred with any writing, scraps of paper lay within the book with attempted but incorrect translations.

Kouen's eyebrow twitched, a rare sign of annoyance.

Kouha snickered. Yes, this girl would definitely make a good match for Enn-nii.

* * *

"So…" Vega leaned on top of Kouha's head. She was around the same age as him, but he was still much shorter than her. Unfortunately, it was not the case with Kouen. Similarly to Sinbad, he towered of her. "Would you mind explaining exactly how I got here? Also, you say Judal brought me here. If so, where is he now?"

The three sat at Kouen's work table, a couple hours having passed since their fiasco of a meeting.

"Judal is back in Balbadd still. After Ka Koubun finished healing him, he teleported you over here with instructions that I was to watch over you."

"Mmmn. So where exactly am I now?"

Kouen took control of this question. "You are in my study room."

"I can see that captain obvious," a bit of snark coming into her voice. "But where is your study room located?"

" In my home."

"Which is…"

"A palace."

"That is located…"

"In my father's kingdom."

"Which is called…"

"Kou."

It really took a lot to get any real answers out of him, didn't it.

"So let's get to the meat of the matter. Why am I really here? And how do I get out?"

"I told you earlier. Judal wants to 'know what you are and what you can do'" Kouha said, making air quotes. Vega muttered under her breath. "First I have to deal with the idiot Sinbad, and now I have to stay in a kingdom where a magi does Solomon knows what to me. I'm just so blessed, aren't I."

Kouen sent a sharp gaze over her direction. "You know Sinbad? Are you in an alliance with him?"

"I knew him for a total of two days. I only stayed with him because he was an acquaintance of my friend's son. So no, I am not in an alliance with him."

"What country do you belong to?"

"I don't belong to any country. Well, I did once, but that's gone now. And the master I belonged to, well he's dead. So I guess I could say I have no affiliation but myself, and no goals except the ones I set out for myself."

Kouen settled back down, feeling slightly lighter knowing that this woman wasn't affiliated with Sinbad, and that no one had control over her. For a second, he caught himself thinking what might happen if she was on their side. But it was still too soon. He didn't know what her character was, though it could definitely be said that she was quite intellectual, considering that she could read the Torran language, and brave enough to not back down from a fight.

"Alright, what would happen if I didn't tell him what I was? Could I still get out of here?" Vega got back on the topic of Judal.

"I don't know. You tell me. I don't know how powerful you are." Kouha took a brush out of who knows where and started to brush Vega's hair.

"Keep in mind," Kouen threatened, "That the Kou kingdom has four dungeon capturers and a magi on it's side." He held up three fingers. "And I have three djinn- so don't think that it would be an easy feat to escape."

"But I doubt you can use the djinn to their full potential. Well, maybe you can, but I doubt that all four of you can djinn equip."

"You'd be surprised." His posture became more relaxed. "You talk as though you know the exact workings of a djinn. Do you have one yourself?"

"Well, I'm a special case. But, yes, I do intend to get djinn sometime or other." This was her chance. She could ask to see his metal vessels. "What djinn do you have?"

"Phenex, Agares, and Astaroth."

"What about you Kouha?"

"Leraje."

Vega smiled at the boy. She may not trust either of them, but she was definitely warming up to Kouha. "She's a good match for you isn't she. Very…. Passionate, one could say."

It was a misstep on her part.

"What would you say about the personalities of my djinn?" Questioned Kouen.

"Ah, well Phenex was always really nice to me, she was the best for healing. Whatever the wound was she could always heal it. Astaroth-"

She realized her mistake.

"I mean, if I did know them, that's would I would imagine them to be. Based on their names." Internally she berated herself. Just because Kouha and Kouen didn't seem like lunatics, and seemed like pretty nice people did not' mean that she could go around and tell them all about her previous life. What had happened to her cold and emotionless facade? Why hadn't she put it up? If only she hadn't been so tired when she met them, she could have been as wary of them as she was Sinbad. Perhaps this is what happens when one is surrounded by black rukh: you start to make unruly decisions.

Kouha finished braiding her hair. "Thanks Kouha. I'm going to go… to the bathroom." Vega ran out of the room, her anklets jingling noises the only thing either of them could hear from her as she left.

Kouen was finding this girl very interesting.

* * *

OMAKE

"Damnit," Vega cursed. "Where's the bathroom? I actually need to go!"

She had been wandering the halls for the past three hours, and now with each passing minute she became more and more frantic.

At first, she really was just running away from Kouen. B **u** t this stupid palace was so big, she couldn't even get back to that room if she tried. Vega also had a suspicion that was growing steadier by the second that she was going in circles. Nobody had five different copies of the same tapestry, right?

Kouen leisurely walked to his bedroom chambers, wondering about the curious girl that had burst into his life. Judal did pick up some interesting people here and there, didn't he. He was about to round a corner.

The two crashed right into one another.

"Sorry... " A warm body lay beneath her,and she rubbed her hand on her head; it had bumped into the man's chin.

After a moment or two of wallowing in self pity, she opened her eyes.

"Kouen?"

The man laid on the floor, propping himself up with an elbow.

For the few minutes she had known him, Vega knew that his gaze was intense and unrelenting. But this was different. Previously, he had been gazing at her, thinking about her worth to his country, if she was dangerous.

But now, there was a different sort of light in his gaze, and it sent shudders down her spine.

Vega started to wiggle in an attempt to get up, but something warm and sturdy entrapped one of her legs. She looked down, and saw the reason why Kouen was looking at her so intensely.

Her bag had entangled the two, legs intertwined and knotted together by her bag's long strap. But where her body was placed in position to his, well, Neither of them were strangers to what was called a lap dance.

And that was what this looked like.

Vega remained composed. "Sorry about that, I'll just…." She knew that if she moved in a different way, the bag might get more tangled. Still, she tried to raise her leg a little bit so that way she could begin the untangling process.

She didn't know that as a consequence, she ground into Kouen's, ah, manly parts, harder.

Vega's eyebrows knitted in concentration. It was impossible for a bag to get this knotted within a few second. Both the red drawstring that closed her bag and the strap were tying their legs together. But she was an expert at untying knots. So within a few minutes they were untied.

"There we go."

She got up and brushed herself off. "I'm still looking for that bathroom…"

"Down the hall, second door to your right." If she didn't know any better, Vega would have said there was a hint of lust and amusement in those reddish eyes of his. But if anything came from this situation, it would be annoyance and nothing more. So she nodded, then scurried away to relieve her too full bladder.

Kouen lay on the ground for a few seconds more. If anyone was watching they wouldn't have noticed anything strange about his face. Only Kouen knew that the right side of his lips quirked upwards- only slightly- to resemble what might have been his version of a smirk. But only Kouen knew, and he wouldn't be telling anyone about that any time soon.

He got up and walked towards his room- down the hall, the second door to the right.

* * *

You notice what I did there? Eh? EHHHH?

also,

FRICK YEAH KOUEN! you my bae #favoritism

Alright y'all from his point onwards I'm diverging from the story line. A lot. If anyone has noticed, I tend to use a lot of direct quotations from the anime, and I rewatched the anime to be correct. Of course some words were missing and I manipulated some scenes and sentences to my liking but hey- you put an oc in and these things are going to happen.

In any case in diverging from the plotline bc well... its Kou.

But anyways, eventually I will come back to direct quotes from the anime, but after a short period of that I'm going to cut the official storyline for the majority of the rest of the story. Because I'm evil and I'm a fanfic writer and this is my universe.

Like always, please follow favorite or review! It makes fanfic writers happy & will (possibly) make me update faster.


	5. Chapter 4

IMPORTANT: ALL CHAPTERs UP UNTIL THIS ONE WILL BE EDITED AND REPOSTED UNTIL THE END OF NOVEMBER. DO NOT EXPECT ANY NEW CHAPTER RELEASED UNTIL DECEMBER AT THE EARLIEST.

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

Two days passed, and Vega was determined to stay as far away from Kouen as possible.

Whenever he sensed his rukh nearby, she even took to using magic spells that she had to relearn to hide from him. Overall there were only three good things that came from the past two days.

The first was the food. Others found Vega to be amazing: they had not known that such a small figure could eat so much and remain the same weight. Whenever a servant came to her chambers bringing food, they were mindful to bring at least a cart of food if they were bringing a snack. If they brought a meal, they would have to bring five carts for her to be full.

It was a good thing that Kouen favored her, and that she still had enough treasure to last a normal person ten lifetimes- but only would last her ten years at the rate she was eating.

Most times though, she ate in the kitchen. It was one of the many niches that she found in the palace where she felt at peace. She enjoyed the hustle and bustle in the background, the food that came her way was a plus when chefs asked her to taste their food. She might eat anything, but she did have a good palette: she could tell them exactly what they needed to add. Not to mention after what happened with Hakuei, they always asked her to cook dessert… as long as Hakuei wasn't there as well.

The second good thing that happened was the library. No, not Kouen's private library. She had originally thought that that was the only one in the palace. Thank Solomon she was wrong. After wandering about for hours, she had stumbled upon a second library- not nearly as extensive as Kouen's, but filled with much different subjects. Subjects she was interested in, like magic.

She spent most of her time in there, seeing as there were so many places to hide, and that it was on the other side of the palace in relation to Kouen.

Vega didn't spend much time on magic though. She could spend time on that later, and besides, if she practiced too much magic, it would be all too likely that Kouen would be able to find her much too easily.

Instead, she took to reading trashy romance novels, similar to the ones that Sheba and Arba had read when she was younger. Boy, did those authors have vivid imaginations.

She also find quite a few books in this library about Sinbad's kingdom in particular. This fascinated her to no end, and she ended up reading the three books that they had multiple times: she was a speed reader.

Vega was also able to clear a space in the library so she could work out. Her room was no safe haven: Kouen would surely be able to find her there. So she trained her body and slept on the library floors both nights as well.

The third and final truly good thing that happened to her was Hakuei.

At this point, she basically divided the royal people of the palace into to halves: Redheads and those with raven locks.

It was on her second day of avoidance that she found Hakuei. Oddly enough, she bumped into her when she was running away from Kouen. The other female, however, was headed straight towards his chambers.

"Miss, I advise you not to go that way. If you do, you'll find a very scary man that will stop at nothing to hunt people down."

The first imperial princess wondered for a moment, then struck gold. "You must mean Kouen. His rooms are in that direction and he's the only one with enough power- well will power- to hunt people down around here. What did you do?"

"You know him? Well then..." Vega lifted Hakuei up in the fashion that newly weds did and took off running, back to her safe haven in the library. "To the library!"

Vega had gotten pretty good at navigating the halls at this point. She still got lost from time to time, but whenever she traveled, she was on the lookout for places to hide.

Hakuei was astonished at her speed. Or, lack of it, rather. It seemed as though the young girl wasn't strong enough to sprint down hallways and pick up a fully grown woman and still run.

"It's alright. I can walk by myself. Have no fear: I will not go running to Kouen to tell him that the girl he is hunting for is."

"Thank you. I was getting rather tired." It was definitely noticeable. Her arms were trembling and her face had a slight tint of red- the reddest it ever got. All that food she had eaten must be catching up to her…

Hakuei instinctively felt she had nothing to fear from this girl- it would be a different story if this odd girl had just run past her- but then she wouldn't be in this situation.

So deciding to believe in her instincts, she took the girl's hand and smiled. "I'm assuming you meant the library with the books on spells in it, the Eastern Library, correct?"

A nod.

"Then let's go!"

Together, the two black haired females took off down the halls, running like children. It would be the start of a beautiful friendship that would make one another be more accepting of others, less serious, and make them both great at cracking dirty jokes.

* * *

"Yeah, I know- I have flabs instead of abs…" Vega made a joke at her own expense. She had spent the past two hours at the library with Vega, and both of the girls had gotten along terrifically.

The two had bonded over a mutual interest in magic, trashy romance novels, and food. As it turned out, Hakuei was very interested in the pursuit of knowledge, much like her brother. However, instead of her brother's interest in history, she was more interested in the science and magic of things, wind in particular.

Hakuei raised her thin eyebrows. "If you want to know someone with great abs, Kouen has a great set of them." She snorted, then remembered herself and tried to laugh demurely behind her sleeve. This girl was getting behind barriers she didn't even know she had. The built in ideas of etiquette and lady-like manner flew out the window soon after the to had begin to talk.

"Perving on your brother I see." Vega looked at the girl sitting beside her slyly, out of the corners of her eyes. The book she had in her life was one Hakuei had recommended to her.

Pale skin was tinted a healthy pink. "I'm allowed to perv on him because he's my brother. Besides, it's not my fault he wears really loose robes."

"Are you sure you don't have a crush on him?"

"NO! It's already awkward enough that we became siblings through marriage because my mother remarried his father…"

"Hn. That's not a very good excuse…" Her voice was sing-songy. A devilish glint appeared in her eyes. "Perhaps you have a crush already?"

Pink stained cheeks flushed an even deeper red.

"Anyways, if you want to train, everyone here at the palace is more than happy to help you." Hakuei changed the subject. She thought for a moment. "Except, perhaps, Koumei and Judal. Koumei always wants more rest, and Judal- well you probably wouldn't want to take lessons from him."

The two looked back down at the book on Vega's lap. She set it on the floor, and rather childishly, the two lay down on their stomach and began reading.

"My fingers ghosted over his toned body…"

The two glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

"... And just when we were talking about physiques too!"

"Maybe it's Kouen in the book?" Vega suggested, nudging Hakuei in the side.

"Actually, I wouldn't be surprised. So many women have been to his bedchambers that it wouldn't be news to me if he bedded half of the women in Kou already." Her tone bordered on resentful. "The past few days especially- I can tell you it is not fun living two rooms down from him."

"That was one of the reasons I was running from him- one time I was looking for the bathroom and it was apparently his private chambers. It was so embarrassing. He was waiting for me outside too!"

"Really? I'm surprised that Kouen would do something like that. Although…" She smiled mischievously, "All the girls that come out of his room say that he can do anything. I've heard their screams too." She shuddered.

"I wouldn't mind someone who wasn't Kouen doing that to me, but since I'm his sister…"

"You were fine with discussing his physique..."

"I know that, but still- if you imagine your brother and yourself having-" Again she shuddered. "No. Just no."

"It's not even like you're real siblings- you are cousins."

"That may be true, but technically his mother now is the same as mine. And admiring his physique is totally different." This time Hakuei turned on her. "How do you feel about my brother?"

"Well… he's sort of scary." Vega scratched her head. "I've only talked to him a few times, and I guess I can't really judge him all that well."

"How do you feel about his body?" Hakuei's left arm made a dramatic gesture and clutched the fabric of the kimono near her heart.

Vega smirked. She may behave the mentality of a child at times, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate a good-looking man. She had felt the same way about Sinbad, but the aura that emanated from him made her wary about any fangirling. "I like his muscles… but his goatee is rather weird."

"Very true. I tried to get him to shave it once, but he said he liked how it looked."

The two girls got up from their spots on the plush rug on the wooden floor.

Vega raised one of her arms to the sky and pulled on it with her other arm. "All that running made me hungry." Her stomach let out a growl. "I actually want to get some food from the kitchen today instead of them bringing it up. It's nice to eat in a kitchen atmosphere."

"You want to eat something?" Hakuei's eyes sparkled. "I would be glad to make you something!"

"You can cook the meal and I can cook dessert?" Vega questioned. She loved food, but she had to admit she wasn't the best at cooking meals. She was ok at cooking sweets though: she had to be because she ate sweets so often she was bound to figure out how much sugar, salt and flour by experimenting every single day of her life in Alma Torran.

The two walked side by side down to the kitchens where they were greeted by the abrupt stop in any production of food and a tremulous voice.

"Princess Hakuei, you wouldn't be here to… cook food would you?"

A kitchen containing upwards of fifty people waited anxiously for her answer. Chefs, sous-chefs, dishwashers, and everything in between fell silent, even allowing food resting on stoves to remain untouched for a few minutes, something that is considered blasphemy in the cooking world.

"Yes! But don't mind us. I'm just cooking a little meal for the both of us while Vega," she motioned to the girl standing by her side. Shortly after they had met, Vega had decided that allowing Hakuei to use her name wouldn't be a terrible thing. "Will make desserts."

Once Vega saw the worried looks on the staff's face, she intervened. "If you're worried, please don't. Between the two of us, I'm sure that we'll be able to keep each other from burning your kitchen down." A hint of amusement could be heard in her voice.

"Who are we to refuse Princess Hakuei and her guest?" A sous-chef, obviously new, was quickly glared at by the rest of the kitchen.

"Wonderful! We'll just take a little section of the kitchen, an out of the way one." Hakuei swept up a few pots and pans, various ingredients and put them in a basket that she found. She moved towards a corner that was being used mainly as a storing area.

Bowls of potatoes, carrots, fruit, and bread were shoved onto almost every other counter top, in a futile attempt to gain enough space in the corner to cook.

"Please," the head chef of the kitchen approached Vega, "Please don't burn the kitchen down. And for your own health, don't eat the princesses' food."

"It can't be that bad, could it?"

An hour later, when Hakuei was done cooking her meal, she was proved wrong. The meal was worse than what even Vega could cook. And she couldn't cook well at all.

The victim lay on a plate that was once pristine. The white china had been marred by odd smelling sauces, and little flakes from the lump of coal that was supposed to be meat fluttered from the dish. While it hadn't caused the kitchen to burn down, the fire was still pretty big, and caused many of the other people into the kitchen to get a few more grey hairs.

"Here! Eat it, Vega." Hakuei was all sunshine and rainbows as she pushed the bowl of massacred food to her.

"Ah," Vega said, looking for an excuse. "Well, it's never a good idea to cook on a full stomach… so I'm going to have to turn you down on that offer." She couldn't tell whether or not Hakuei was doing this kind of thing intentionally- she looked so kind and innocent while offering a plate of death.

Vega gathered the ingredients she would need for the multiple deserts she was planning on making.

… What? She was still a growing girl! Sort of. Not really. Eh, whatever, she has a good enough metabolism to eat all of it.

A twentyfive pound pack of flour was difficulty escorted over to the work station that had just been cleaned. Chocolate bars, strawberries, blueberries, cream, butter, sugar, and caramel were all brought over in large quantities as well.

The kitchen, which had been previously horrified at the horrifying smells emanating from the corner became worried for the poor ingredients that disappeared into the corner. They could only hope that this girl was not as bad as Princess Hakuei.

Their worries were remedied twenty minutes into her prep time when they saw that she was not doing anything drastically abnormal to her food, unlike Hakuei who had added the worst possible combinations of ingredients together. So far, what the purple eyed girl was making seemed to be not a disaster which was good enough for the majority of the kitchen.

All of them went back to work except the head chef. He saw something rather interesting in the girl who was baking, and decided to watch her for a bit more.

A look of pure elation drifted across Vega's face. Within the short time she had stayed at Alma Torran, baking had become one of her favorite pastimes. All of the memories she had associated with them were lovable or funny, or both.

Surprisingly, Hakuei was able to eat the food she had prepared herself, without flinching.

Velvet chocolate cake was put into the oven to bake. Meanwhile, Vega put together the appropriate frosting and garnishes. Altogether, the garnish and frosting took her only around ten minutes, at which point the smell of the chocolate cake made others around the kitchen to be drawn back into the corner.

Next, she started on a tart. She carefully placed the flaky crust she had made into a metal pan. Fruit was quickly cut and soaked in sugar. She put the crust into the oven with the chocolate cake without the fruits.

Cookies were next on her agenda. The amount of confectioners sugar that went into the monstrosity was rather absurd, but the amount of sugar that went into the icing was even more. She used a different oven and paced the cookies in there.

Creamcheese was combined with egg, sugar and vanilla to make cheesecake, gelatin was mixed with various flavors to make several different types of jello, promptly put in the ice box.

Then, finally-finally, the chocolate cake was deemed ready by Vega. Using a large knife, she cut it in half, spread filling in between where she had cut and put frosting all over the top. The pie tin that she had taken out a few minutes ago was topped with the fruits that he had prepared.

Cookies were frosted using the diabetes frosting, the cream cheese came out of the other oven. Creme brulee had also somehow managed to be made, though none in the kitchen even saw her doing it. A flame thrower was produced, which she used to toast the tops.

The kitchen staff were in awe of how much food she had made. Not to mention, the majority of it looked as good as their deserts did on their best days. Each of the deserts seemed to sparkle and cry out "Eat me!"

A flour and egg covered Vega placed all of her cooking tools in one of the large bowls she had used. If she people hadn't been watching her at that moment, she would have gladly licked each and every one of the bowls. Unfortunately, some little part of he still wanted to retain some form of dignity, and she placed the bowls in one of the sins and cleaned all of her tools, bowls, and pans.

All of the seven types of jello she had made were brought out of the freezer, no longer warm, but still not cold. A feast fit for Vega was set out on the long table that had miraculously appeared in the kitchen. She was pretty sure that one of the busboys had brought it.

"Wow Vega, that's a lot of sweets!"

"Yes, it is. Go ahead and choose anything you want Hakuei." She glanced back at the kitchen staff. She felt bad for them because of the terror of Hakuei's cooking failures. The least she could do was provide them with some kind of reward. Begrudgingly, she motioned them over. Thanking her lucky stars that her appetite had indulged her to make just a nit more than even she would be able to eat, she cried out, "Everyone of the kitchen staff can have one slice of whatever dessert they want. That's IT!"

Before the swarm managed to descend on her feast, she got two pieces of everything she had made. Vega was like a vacuum cleaner. Nobody knew where the food went in, but it went in so fast…

"Vega! This is really good!"

All of the kitchen staff seemed to agree. Especially the head chef.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Vega, sir."

"Well, Vega, I'm Wang Peng. Would you mind joining my staff tomorrow to make peach dishes? I've received word that Judal is coming back soon and our oracle always wants sweets and peaches. I'm sure that a peach cobbler will bring his mood up."

What benefit did she have from doing this? Oh yeah, that's right. Maybe if she made Judal happy, she would be able to get out of here faster. Purple eyes glanced over at the princess that resided in the room. She thought of Kouha and Kouen and Hakuei.

Maybe she didn't have to try to leave.

She shook her head. She had a mission. She needed to find all the djinn. She also wanted to capture her own djinn: she would be busy. She didn't have time to stay in one place for too long.

"I would love to." All of the kitchen staff had dispersed except for the head chef. She thanked all the constellations she remembered that there was still some left. Fifty people had been a lot, but it seemed as though they had adhered to her 'one piece' policy. Without even blinking an eyes, her hand reached out to any food there was left and put it in her mouth while still managing to retain a semi-lady like appearance. As lady like as you're going to get, at least, when you're stuffing food in your mouth.

She left then read herself to sleep on the library floors.

* * *

Apparently she was supposed to make five different peach dishes,one of them being a guaranteed peach cobbler.

Hakuei had left the room but moments earlier as she had been the one to wake Vega up in the morning, reminding her that she needed to go down to the kitchen. Soon after, she left. Apparently, she was going to send a letter to Seisyun, her assistant, who was on leave because a family member had taken ill.

It was obvious that her assistant was the one she had a crush on. Evidently though, according to the gossip he heard shortly after Hakuei had left, Seisyun was short and younger than Hakuei. He was younger by eight years, but the real problem was that he wasn't royalty.

Vega shook her head. It really was too bad the the Kou empire seemed to be bound by old traditions by marrying for money and influence. If you weren't married for either, it was almost guaranteed that the person you married was older than you, and Seisyun wasn't. Most people would see Hakuei as a cougar if she ended up with Seisyun, and yet if a girl married a man ten to twenty years older, it would be no problem.

An assistant had been appointed to her by the head chef. Her name was Li you, and her features were surprisingly non-Kou like. Her hair was blonde as opposed to the dull blacks, browns, and occasionals reds you saw in Kou.

A loud crash could be heard resounding throughout the castle. A large influx of black rukh swarmed the kitchen.

Judal walked in.

"Where are my peaches?"

Not all of the dishes were ready. The cupcakes and cookies were, as were the dried peaches, but the peach cobbler was still in the oven and a fifth dish had not even been chosen yet. His red eyes reflected images of war, terror, but they also showed a boy who was still too young to face the horrors of the world. He was much like her, Vega sumrised. He had been forced to grow up too fast, and as a result, his personality became twisted.

Perhaps it wasn't prominent for her own personality, but it was still there.

Like a dog, Judal sniffed out exactly where peaches were being cooked and found his way to the small area in the corner that held Vega and Li You. The blonde woman cowered in fright. In attempt to prevent Li You from getting killed, he pulled Li You's arm and brought her back to his chest.

Red eyes lit up like a crimson bloom seen in the sun's setting light.

"My toy has found it's way into the kitchen I see."

"Yes, Judal." She contemplated threatening him and telling him that she would put poisons in his dishes if he didn't let her go. Or actually putting poison in the dishes so she had a better chance of escaping. "Would you like one of your dishes that we made?" She decided she would do neither.

Carefully, she guided him a little way aways from Li You and Wang Peng. As soon as they were five meters away, Li You turned away and went to the opposite side of the kitchen. It was quite evident that the chefs liked Kudal in the kitchen even less than they liked Hakuei there. turned to Wang Peng and smacked him. Vega could hear her whispering, "Don't do that in the kitchen, hubby!"

Well, that was definitely an interesting relationship…

"So ghost, do you feel like telling me what you are?" Judal looked up from the piece of cake he held I between his fingers.

"Rudeness is not becoming. Should a person ask a rude question, they shall get a rude response." The sharp tone Vega spoke with recited something she had heard over and over when she herself was younger. "That is to say, I'm not going to tell you anything and I want to get out of here as soon as I possibly can."

"Well I'm sorry to break it to you, but if you haven't gotten out by now, it's even less likely that you're going to get out. More people are watching and now I'm here."

It was true, she had been enjoying her time with Hakuei so much she wasn't really thinking about escaping. Now if she wanted to leave she would have to be much more discreet about it.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to be taking my leave now. I was only assigned to make the food not to wait on you." Vega took her own share of the foods she had made and left the kitchen.

"Meet me at Entei's office right after the sun goes down. If you're not there, I'll assume you're fair game to hunt down." Judal called out after her, barely pausing to put down his food. What went unspoken was something they both knew. If he really wanted to, he could have her injured, perhaps even killed. The Kou kingdom did have enough firepower, after all. However, Vega could not find herself believing that the words he said carried much weight, especially when the man was stuffing down three different type of peach desserts down his throat.

She left without another word, walking weightlessly down the foreign halls, knowing exactly where she was going, but at the same time, feeling more lost than ever. The dragons on the tapestries mocked her, asking her why she hadn't left earlier. It would have been easy too; there were little to no guards on her, she was great at avoiding Kouen, and the only thing keeping her there was Hakuei.

If she got stuck here, she would be unable to do her job, and if she didn't, no one else would. At the young age of eighteen, Vega didn't want another world to collapse in front of her eyes. She didn't know how she was going to stop it, but she would, even if it cost her her life.

With self assured steps, she made her way back to her room, the first time she had been back there since she had woken up in the palace. Lavishly decorated with the color red and smelling faintly of herbal spices unique to the area, she calmed her heart and waited.

It was amazing, how, if one looked closely, that you could see that the symbol for Kou snuck its way onto every item in the room. Embroidered on the bed sheets, chiseled into the desk, painted onto the screen, stamped even onto the soap. Each country wanted the world for themselves, but if they wanted to survive, they couldn't do that.

With careful hands and an extra sharp knife, she cut out the delicate golden strings that declared that the bedspread belonged to Kou, sliced off the part of the soap with their insignia on it, used the briefest flicker and all of her power to burn the desk and erase the mark from the screen. Tiring, but self fulfilling. It would do nothing but to serve as her own small moment of changing the world. This would d nothing in the larger scheme, but she still wished, and as long as one could still do that, there was hope.

She clenched her hands into fists and held them over her heart. There was still hope. There was still time. If she stayed here for just a bit longer, maybe things would finally begin to change.

* * *

HAHAHAHAHA Wang peng is from my chinese textbook. So is Li you.

So the timeline in this little bit was a little confusing even to me, but that's ok, just keep in mind that the total time she spent in Balbadd was 2 days, she spent one day in bed, then met Kouen, after that she had a day of avoidance in the library, the day after, she met Hakuei, the day after that, Judal came back. 4 days in Kou so far.

Or, y'know, you can just keep a loose timeline without any actual dates, which would probably be for the best...

On another note, yea, I haven't updated in a while. Oops? I also didn't proof read this chapter... and I will go back and replace all the other chapters with edited versions soon... soo a lot of changes are going to be made. Meh. Also characters(like Hakuei) are probably a bit OOC (oh yeah, Judal too) but I'll just go with it. Maybe once I finally really finish I'll go through and make things better.

Forgive my probably horrible grammar, but I wrote this write in parts and never checked either of them.

I'm also participating in Nanowrimo, which is what inspired me to continue this story. I love all of the people that reviewed and followed and favorited, and I was always really happy when I saw those notifications in my inbox, but I think I'm going to keep a looser schedule. On the bright side, this is a very long chapter. Like really long. Like 4,000+ words long. so yup.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

(Super Long author's note at end)

* * *

She stayed in her room until the designated time. When a maid brought food, she thanked her politely but didn't take any of it. She rubbed the lamp charm she had taken off her left anklet. It was the one that Ali, her old master had insisted on giving her when she went off on her quest. It was the metal vessel that she had resided in, shrunk down to a charm. It no longer held any significance but sentimental value.

The window was right there, to her right. If she wanted to, maybe she could get away. But any confidence she had shown on her quest was fake. It was all a mask, something that she wasn't, something she couldn't be when she was in such a weakened state.

When she was a djinn, she had the powers of the stars and night at her beck and call, a nearly unlimited amount of magoi. But as a human, she no longer knew what to do. Even back in the days of Alma Torran, she could never control herself. Now that she was new to being a human again, she would need to relearn everything.

Even as she had faced off against Kouen, she found her grip on the sword inadequate, shaky, _fake_. Vega hated it. And the training sessions she held in the library for her magic and her physique weren't really doing anything, at least, not yet.

Perhaps after this was all over, perhaps after she was able to get away, she would be able to train more. She had read of an institute called Magnostadt, where they trained aspiring magicians. Yes, perhaps she would go there.

Vega found that touching metal helped her to calm down. It had started even before Solomon helped her, took her away from the bad people. The chains that bound her were the only things that she found solace in on those dark, dark days.

 _On the days where she didn't know if tomorrow would come. On those days she didn't know if she was going to eat. Those days where there was only blood, blood, blood._

After each day when she returned to her cell, bloodied, beaten, and bruised, she held onto the metal like it was the rope a person falling would grab onto.

 _Blood, so much blood, so much darkness, so much hopelessness, so many screams._

Those chains, they were rusty and cold but they were the only constant, other than the dark. And, well, that's not a tangible thing, is it? Vega put her hands together, side by side and admired the scar that would only complete if they were held a certain way.

" _Let's get those off you, alright?" The man who was her savior, the one who was going to take her away, he held a sword in hand. It was supposed to be a freeing gesture, one that was supposed to be a happy memory._

 _He raised the sword high to break the chains of hurt, pain, and sorrow._

" _NO!" She sobbed, scream tearing through the air. "No, no, no, please don't do that, please!" The little girl shielded those chains with her own two hands, pale and dirtied. She didn't care if there would be blood. That would be normal. It wouldn't be normal if he…_

 _It was too late. He was careless, and her hands had been too fast._

 _The pain was blinding, but at the same time tolerable. All she knew was that she was happy. The familiar weight on her ankles. It was still there. Itwasstillthereitwasstillthereitwasstill_ _ **there**_ _._

 _Solomon looked down at her, confused. Didn't she want to be free? Wasn't she happy that she could finally get away from being used, abused?_

 _Tears formed in her eyes, and the girl called Orias put her head down in shame. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm sorry, I just-can't.'_

She caressed the heavy anklets she had on, slim enough to be pretty and feminine, but at the same time carried the weight of a slave's chains. The small chains that dangled from it, each with their own charm, let her have the chains that connected those two cuffs but without society looking down on her.

The ones she had worn as a djinn no longer fit her, yet they were one of the only pieces of jewelry she kept that had no real use. Jasmine had been kind enough, and understanding enough to have the set she was currently wearing crafted to perfection, providing her exactly what she needed.

Those two had been so kind, so understanding, and she was undeserving of them. She clenched her hands tight, wondering if she would even be able to do anything to change their situation. If she failed, all the kindness they had shown her would be for naught. Everything Solomon, Sheba, Arba had done for her would be for nothing. This world, which she had found friends in, was able to see the stars in- would be gone.

The darkness in her room came as a surprise. Whilst she had been remembering, she hadn't paid attention to the vibrant hues of the sun slipping over the horizon's edge, didn't realize that the sky had shifted into her domain without her watchful eye. She was reminded that without her, the world would go on.

 _But not for long. Not with what was coming._

She slipped her sword into a loop in her clothing and moved towards the room she had been avoiding. It was time to finally face Kouen and Judal.

* * *

She hadn't announced herself extravagantly, but when she walked into that room, all noise stopped. Every set of eyes was on her. Koumei and Kouha were two unexpected additions that also has a shared interest in the girl who tried to slip in undetected.

"So ghost, were you planning on sneaking out?" Judal smirked as he trained his crimson orbs on the woman in front of him.

"No, I was not." It was true. She hadn't even thought about it once she had gotten back to her room but for that fleeting moment that she dismissed. Vega blatantly stared at the only red-haired man in the room whom she had not been formally introduced to. Judal followed her gaze to the tactician of the palace.

"That's Mei." Kouha had also looked at her line of sight, and realizing that his brother was in her line of sight sought to introduce her. "He's also a dungeon conqueror! His djinn is Dantalion." Had she mentioned that she hated it when people referred to djinn as theirs? They too were their own entities. It was not as though they lived and breathed to serve those who captured their dungeon. Nobody needed to know she thought that though. Nobody would even be able to tell that she disliked it, and the only difference would be that she would refer to djinn by their names, and not assign ownership. It was almost as bad as slavery.

The name finally registered in her head. Dantalion. She looked a little closer at the scrawny looking prince, trying to determine whether or not he was worthy of handling one of the wisest and best friends that she had available back in Alma Torran. Koumei began to nod off. Well, if that wasn't a match made in heaven, she didn't know what was.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Orias." Koumei mumbled behind his fan, gaze lowered but sharp and noticing.

"And I, you. Though I must say, if we had met under different circumstances," She stressed, "Perhaps our meeting would be more enjoyable." Vega turned to Judal, ignoring Kouen's burning gaze. "Would you mind explaining why you called me here, _high priest?_ " She hissed the title, angry and mocking, but at the same time cautious.

"Well, like I said, I want to know what you are?"

"Not who I am? Is it not demeaning to be referred to as a what?" She held back the sentence hanging in the back of her mouth- _shouldn't you be one to know exactly how demeaning that is?_

"Until you tell me your powers, and how you explain your weird rukh, I will refer to you as a what. Or ghost." He provided no explanation for his second 'nickname' for her, though she believed it had something to do with her pale skin and the fact that he must have heard stories about her evading Kouen so much to the point that she was unseen by him, a ghost.

"Pray tell, what reason should I have to tell you?" Vega wanted to sit, but Kouen had the only chair, and she would not _kneel_ in front of this family ever.

Kouen finally spoke. "There are multiple reasons." His burning gaze simmered down to a languid one, one of a cat watching it's prey. The eyes of a predator. "There is a high chance of you not being able to escape if you don't cooperate. You've made friends with Hakuei. You've made friends in the kitchen, who I might add are _disposable_. In order to get out of this room without cooperating, you would have to face three dungeon capturers and a magi." Kouen might not usually give information freely, but when it came to threats, he had no trouble using the facts laid out in front of him.

"Yes, we've been through this," she murmured.

"Then why do you insist on asking?"

She shrugged. "Just wanted to know if your answer would change- and it has. But," She shifted her gaze from Kouen back to Judal. "To answer your question, I don't know what I am, as you so crudely put it."

"How can you not know what you are?" Kouha demanded, confused. But he was the only one. Koumei, ever the tactician, had put pieces together. Kouen had told him, word for word every conversation they had had. Judal could take a guess, seeing the similarity of the way rukh fluttered around her to the djinn in each dungeon he had raised.

Kouen didn't know what she was, but he understood her confusion in labeling herself. Many people did not know what category they fell under. He, himself, had determined long ago that he was Crown Prince first, General second, dungeon capturer third, person last.

Vega shrugged her shoulders, some of the loose cloth on her shoulders slipping off. It didn't bother her much seeing as she had worn far less before. It didn't matter because her goal would be more important than her dignity. "Does it really matter what the answer is anyways? Would it make any difference in how you treated me?"

Yes, yes it would.

Black rukh fluttered around the room, lazily, hesitantly attaching themselves to Vega at times, but gathering around Judal like he was a god, because to them, he was. Vega was no longer able to fully see the rukh, something she had been losing ever since becoming human, but still, there was no doubt that so many people in the Kou empire were fallen, if not half.

The imposing man in the chair certainly was one of those half-fallen. She was still yet to find out the cause, nor was she eager to. It gave her the feeling she had years ago, in that dark little cell, people looming over her.

" _-Ah! No!" The touch of leather seared and burned flesh away. Those scars would never fade, never heal._

Vega almost flinched at the memory, but reminded herself of the position she was in. Not a time to show weakness.

Judal stared at Vega a little longer, studying her face and her rukh. After a few minutes of silence, he nodded his head, seemingly satisfied. He walked past her to the door. "Bye, ghost. I think we'll see each other again."

Koumei left soon after that, excusing himself to go to a meeting.

Two Kou people down, two to go.

Of course, now that Judal was gone, Vega relaxed visibly. Her shoulders did not slump and her stance did not waver, her eyes grew less cold, less calculating, though they weren't even halfway to softening.

A maid entered the room, head bowed low, refusing to look any of them in the eyes.

"Excuse me your highnesses, you called?" A maid appeared in the doorway of Kouen's room, having been told to never enter without explicit information otherwise.

"Some peaches would be nice." Said Kouha.

"Would you mind bringing all of the food you possibly can?" Vega asked as she realized she hadn't eaten nearly all day. There was no sense in allowing unnecessary discomfort when she didn't know how long she would be there. "I'm quite hungry."

Kouen just sat there, riffling through various papers he had on his desk. Within five minutes, the same maid was sent up with three others, one carrying peaches, and the others carrying a full course meal.

"You may leave." Kouen dismissed the maid.

Vega closed her eyes for a while. This man who held three djinn seemed not to care for his servants very much. Still, he seemed much more trustworthy than Sinbad.

In fact, she found herself comparing the two every second they were together. They were the two metal vessel users she had met that had more than one after all. Kouha seemed to be a fine candidate for a single metal vessel, and she was true that with Aladdin's guidance, Alibaba could grow to unknown heights with his djinn. Both of the younger men were fine in terms of personality, responsibility and power.

But Sinbad and Kouen…

She hadn't really spent enough time with either to judge them, she decided. And Sinbad, well, maybe when he had his metal vessels he was more responsible. It was unfortunate that she wasn't really close to any of the metal vessel users to request to see their djinn.

Vega opened her eyes again. In front of her was the food she had been craving moments before.

Her stomach growled.

All of the food was gone within moments.

Kouha's eyes widened. "Where did all of the food go?"

"What are you talking about? You still have the peaches, don't you?" Vega smiled. There was some rice stuck to her cheek.

Kouha started to squish Vega's cheeks.

"How could you possibly eat so much food?"

"Ah, well, I'm hungry so… I needed to eat something. I guess I have a fast metabolism too."

Kouha pouted, took the majority of peaches and left the room.

"What are you doing?" Vega was jolted by the closeness of Kouen. The man had taken the piece of rice of her cheek.

"It's not as if you left any for me." Kouen commented. "So I suppose I'll have to make do with this." Then proceeded to eat the grain of rice.

Solomon, what was this man trying to do? Find her weaknesses? Though she must say, that attempt at flirting was quite… awkward. Who ate rice off of a person's cheek? Certainly not anybody normal.

But two could play at that game. And Solomon knew that she could do it a hell of a lot better.

Kouen had taken one of the few peaches that Kouha had left for them and began to eat it. Vega approached from behind and ran her pale fingers up Kouen's arm. She slowed her pace down a bit and torturously dragged her fingers up his right arm until she reached the hand that held the peach. Her hand just fit all the way around Kouen's wrist. She pushed the peach to her mouth, Kouen's hand along with it.

"The peach is quite sweet." Vega took a bite from the exact same place that Kouen did. "Juicy as well. Are they fresh from the gardens?" Juice dribbled down her chin as she flicked her tongue out to catch the juices. Violet eyes gazed into red.

A fire began to burn in Kouen's eyes.

Vega sent a silent prayer to Solomon that she would be safe. And thanked and cursed Sheba, Arba, and Hakuei for those seduction books that they had gotten her hooked on.

The pressure of her grip on his hand was released and Vega floundered, looking for an excuse.

"I'm going to go...explore. Have fun translating!" Vega picked her bag up and pranced out the door.

* * *

I feel like this ending was a little forced, and I'm rather disappointed with it. When I originally wrote it, it was a stand alone scene, just like the omake two chapters ago. Then I tried to connect it and this happened.

In any case, the major editing has been done, so any old readers might want to go back to the prologue and reread. Chapter 3 and 4 remain unedited, but who knows, I might go back to edit them one day. Since this is chapter 5(Yay, a semi- accomplishment) I'm going to do shoutouts and replies to reviews. If you're not interested, just move on~

Thanks to those who favorited and followed(If you see your name twice, congrats, you did both)

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* * *

Replies to reviews:

Raygha Raikouga: Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed the new prologue that I put up and one day I will finish, no matter how long it takes me

Tsuki(guest):LOL your english is probably better than mine even though I'm a native speaker. It's very admirable that you're learning another language. In any case, yeah this story was all thought up from a 'what-if'...

Cookies(guest): Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad that you like my story

xtruthxliex: Do you watch HunterXHunter? IDk that's the first thing I thought of when I saw the 'x's separating your name... Thanks for the compliments

Guest(obviously guest): Your 'rambling(it really wasn't) review was really helpful. I'm so glad that you reviewed and told me about this so that way if I do another story I can incorporate that. I think for this story, it might work better if the characters were mostly under the illusion that other dungeons weren't raised before that, though the other djinns that Vega will encounter might have been raised multiple times.

Sena-chan: It was really helpful that you told me this, or else everybody would have been stuck with two of the same chapters for a while... Thanks!

LunaEris9: I like Vega too, though I'm finding it harder and harder to keep her in character... oh noes. Somebody will have to tell me whenever I screw stuff up.

Alexandta27: saaaammme TBH I want to have polygamy, but then no because both Kouen and Sinbad are pretty possessive, at lest that's what i feel. I'm probably going to end up making it happen though, because I'm the author and this is a fictional world!

Onepiecelover4ever: I read your story before you deleted most of it! It was really good, but back then I didn't have an account to review... Rip... thanks for reviewing!

* * *

End of really really long authors note. Sorry that you had to suffer through it, and if you read it all, congrats to you.


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